First Free September Newsletter
Don't miss our September newsletter! Here's a peek inside:...
Keep ReadingGetting to Know the Elders: Joe Woodward
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Joe Woodward....
Getting to Know the Elders: Jeff S
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Jeff S....
Getting to Know the Elders: Scott Stringfield
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Scott Stringfield....
Making Progress: Resources for the Word and Prayer
I’ve been encouraged by the feedback we have received so far about our current sermon series, Rooted: Pursuing the Means of Grace. Many of you seem motivated to put the Word and Prayer to work in your life so that God can do his work in you of making you more like our Savior. As I promised on Sunday, below you will find a number of resources to help you make progress...
Getting to Know the Elders: Jonny Rector
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Jonny Rector....
Getting to Know the Elders: Dave Netherton
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Dave Netherton....
Getting to Know the Elders: Cary Lavender
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Cary Lavender....
Getting to Know the Elders: Matt Brown
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Matt Brown....
Getting to Know the Elders: Keith Adams
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Keith Adams....
Getting to Know the Elders: Ken Bengtson
Here at First Free we believe God has given the church elders, men who have been chosen by God to know, lead, feed, and protect his flock. Over the next year, we’d like to help you get to know our elders better through an in-depth interview with one of our elders each month. This month we’re talking to Ken Bengtson....
Thinking Critically About Social Media
The last twelve months have provided enough national controversy to last several years. COVID-19, the contentious presidential election, and race relations are just a few of the issues that have led many of us to the Internet in hopes of finding kindred spirits who may help us make sense of the world around us. In light of this, we should all make an extra effort to think more critically about how we use social media and how it might help or hinder our Christian witness, both personally and corporately....
Making Time for Hope
The family calendar tells our story perhaps more clearly than any other item in our homes. I have saved our family calendars to remember our family’s history. The vacations to Colorado, the trip to Boston, funerals, births, parties, games, practices and games, piano lessons. I was a sorry scrapbooker and a lousy photographer; but I cataloged our busy lives by writing things on the calendar. ...
Matthew: King of Heaven
Have you ever waited for something or someone a long time? Perhaps the return of a loved one you haven’t seen in years, relief from extended suffering, or the setting right of a world gone wrong. Wouldn’t it be good news to hear your waiting was finally coming to an end and your expected hope had arrived?...
Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide
In 1781, legend insists that as British troops left Yorktown, laying their weapons at Washington’s feet, they sang the well known tune, “The World Turned Upside Down.” When kingdoms collide the world is truly turned upside down. We experience this feeling in a myriad of ways even today; nations battle for dominion, groups grasp for power, and individuals chase influence. However, nothing turns our world more inside out than when the kingdom of God collides with the kingdom(s) of man. This daily collision demands our love and our loyalty; it demands our whole life....
Listen, Lament, and Learn
In Micah 6:8 we read, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” We care about justice because God cares about justice. But what does that look like today? How do we engage when we see injustice around us, particularly racial injustice? Here are some resources that we believe can be helpful to us as we walk humbly with God through these waters....
Praying Psalm 106
We just finished our series on Psalms for Uncertain Times by looking at Psalm 106. My goal for this series was to help you learn a new vocabulary and grammar of prayer that may feel a bit like a foreign language. Praying the Psalms gives us patterns and prompts for prayer. One of the methods we’ve been using in these posts has been the ACTS method, letting a psalm lead us through adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Some psalms are especially suited to helping us most in just one of these categories. Psalm 106 is unique in the pattern it gives us for confession....
Praying Psalm 103
Have you ever wondered how to help children grow in the discipline of prayer? They learn as you model and encourage them to pray beyond the memorized prayers at meals and bedtime. Memorized prayers are a wonderful first step in helping children develop the habit of prayer. But look for opportunities to encourage children to pray beyond what they have memorized. To pray from their own thoughts and out of their own experiences and also to grow in their ability to pray in response to what they read in the Bible. Read Psalm 103 together and guide your children through the ACTS method of praying this psalm (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication)....
Praying Psalm 102
What do you do when you come across hard times? Who do you talk to? How do you talk about it with them? For many of us this season has most certainly been a hard time. The fear of the coronavirus, the loneliness of social isolation, the anxiety of financial instability, the pain of losing loved ones. During hard times, our heavenly Father speaks to us through the Psalms and then, incredibly, we are invited to make those words our own. God uses the Psalms to teach us how we might respond back to God. In the midst of this present crisis, psalms of lament like Psalm 102 teach us what to do with all of our pain and confusion. ...
Praying Psalm 100
Music has a way of recalling the clearest memories and creating the most powerful emotions. It can make you happy when you are sad, or sad when you are happy. The right song can transport you to another time; like how “Wipeout” takes me back to middle school birthday parties at the roller-skating rink. It has the power to take you back to your childhood or teenage years with the remembrance of joys or hardships you thought were long forgotten. In the same way praise calls us to remembrance and transformation. ...
Share Christ, Not COVID
He is risen! He is risen indeed! We’ve just celebrated that good news on Easter Sunday; it’s only natural that we should deliver it to others. But how do we do that, given the circumstances? How do we share Christ without sharing COVID? As this pandemic has unfolded, Christian writers have produced scores of articles to help us think of new ways to reach out to those around us and share the gospel while maintaining social distancing. I’ll share one good one at the end of this post and offer a few of my own ideas. But perhaps methods are not our main issue....
Praying Psalm 96
Poetry is powerful. It engages both mind and heart. It uses a small number of words to convey big truths, imprinting them upon us with vivid imagery, making us feel and experience them. An image is indeed worth a thousand words. An imagination is worth a million. According to Dictionary.com, imagination is “the faculty…of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.” Imagination does not deal exclusively with things that are unreal, merely things that are not “present to the senses.” And therein lies its power. The faculties of sight and hearing and taste can only perceive the present, but imagination perceives past and future too....
Praying Psalm 91
One of the ways Pastor Josh suggested for praying the Psalms was using the ACTS acronym...
Praying Psalm 90
In 2016, the memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, was at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list. It is the memoir of Paul Kalanithi, a young neurosurgeon. As he reflects on a terminal illness that eventually takes his life, he writes, “I began to realize that coming in such close contact with my own mortality had changed both nothing and everything... The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live.” ...
Three Ways to Pray the Psalms
One of the reasons I decided to cover the Psalms while we’re not able to gather together for corporate worship is because the Psalms teach us how to pray in all seasons of life. It is my prayer that you will grow in prayer during this strange and difficult season of life. Praying is difficult all the time. Our minds wander, we get in a rut, we even get bored. Prayer is especially difficult when we’re living in difficult days. We may not be sure what to pray. That’s where the Psalms come in. ...
Habits of Evangelism
It’s been a little over two weeks since we concluded our Loving the Lost sermon series. Where are you at with evangelism? Is it still on your radar, or is it “out of sight, out of mind?” Our goal all along has been sustained growth in loving the lost. We want every believer to make evangelism part of their daily life. Short-term enthusiasm is great; long-term habits are better....
Hope Away from Home
How do we live as Christians in a world that is not our home? 1 Peter answers this question. Even though we live in relative ease as Christians in American society, if we’re trying to bear witness at all for Christ, we will face trials of various kinds....
Four Quick Reads on Evangelism
We’ve mentioned quite a few resources in our evangelism series, and several of you have asked for our staff book list. I’ll just mention a few. All of these have influenced the way our staff thinks about evangelism, and they also have the advantage of being bite-sized and easy to understand...
Ten Ways to Connect with Your Neighbors over the Holidays
Where you live is no accident. Do you believe that? I know it might seem inconsequential, but the truth is, wherever you live is the place God has sent you (John 20:21). Your neighborhood is the key place where you are called to exhibit the love of God, care for your neighbors, and welcome others just as the Father has welcomed you....
Revelation and Redemption
An enslaved people in a foreign land, a paranoid dictator, an unlikely hero. Fire, water, thunder, and lightning! The book of Exodus has all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster. But all of this drama is wasted if we miss the message it’s trying to communicate......
Gospel-Worthy Living
What makes a life worthy? How do you know if your life was a success? What does your “best life” really look like? In his letter to the Philippian church, the apostle Paul tells us the true measure of success: a worthy life looks a lot like Jesus’ life. ...
Incarnate: Why the Manger Matters
Christmas is many people’s favorite time of the year. It’s a time to be with family, to go to Christmas parties, and to exchange gifts. It’s also a time to remember the reason for the season! Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Christmas landscapes are full of Santa Claus pictures and blow ups, but they’re also full of nativity scenes. We see mangers everywhere. But why does the manger matter? The manger represents the incarnation of the Son of God. The manger reminds us that God the Father sent his Son to save us from our sins. The Nicene Creed says, “[Jesus Christ], for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”...
Learning to Love Again
Few experiences can compare to the pain of adultery—and God knows this better than anyone. God’s people were wedded to him alone, but they betrayed him. They left him for other lovers and forgot him. But how will the story end—in restoration or tragedy? How can a promise-keeping God abandon his chosen people? On the other hand, how can a holy God be reunited with sinful people? The Bible gives us some answers in the words of the prophet Hosea. Join us as we plumb the depths of God’s love—and in the process learn something about ourselves....
The Lion's Roar
How do you know if you’re going the wrong way? What would it take to get your attention? To wake you up to the needs of the vulnerable, the outcast, and the oppressed? Grieved by their idolatry and the injustice it perpetuates, the Lord comes like the roaring of a lion, warning of imminent judgment. A judgment no offering or song can turn away. For a God who desires renewed lives will not settle for stale ritual. The Lord is roaring. Will we listen?...
Why Small Groups?
You’ve probably heard about adult small groups at First Free. But did you know small groups are a mark of our ministry from preschool through high school? That’s because we know that small groups are one way the Lord has given us to build up the body of Christ. Here are four ways we see this happening in Children’s and Student Ministries...
What Makes a Great Youth Leader?
When I ask you “What makes a great youth leader?”, what do you think of? Most adults would say: young, extroverted, and high energy. That’s the stereotypical youth leader. But do students agree? To find out, I asked several of our students that question. And what students want in a leader and the stereotype couldn’t be further apart. ...
Four Ways to Serve in a Kids Class
Are you interested in joining the team to disciple the next generation, but not sure you’re cut out to be a teacher? We have good news! We need folks with a variety of gifts, skills, and interests to serve in children’s classes. Here are four roles you can consider for serving on Sunday mornings...
Kitchen Project Update: May 4
Construction for our new kitchen area is nearing completion! Finishing touches are being made and you'll soon have the chance to see it in person. We are planning an open house for between after services next Sunday, May 13....
Kitchen Project Update: April 24
Construction for our new kitchen area is nearing completion! Here's a peek behind the wall sectioning off the construction area in the gym. ...
Seeking Eeyore
Each week as I prepare for my sermons, there are things I find in my study that I simply don’t have time to include. They get left on the cutting room floor. A lot of what gets left out isn't needed in the sermon, but sometimes I run across something I really want to share. That happened last week. I was really blown away by some observations James Montgomery Boice made in his sermon on Thomas, and I’ve been mulling them over since....
Bouts of Doubt
As a follower of Christ, is it ok to have doubts? If that feels like a polarizing topic, let me ask it a different way: as a Christian, is it ok to ask questions about the faith? Any question? ...
Kitchen Project Update: March 22
Construction is underway for our new kitchen area. Track the transformation as we post updates here throughout the project! If you look in the gym you'll quickly notice a wall that was constructed to section off the construction area. Here's a peek behind the doors into the changes taking place....
Kitchen Project Update: March 14
Construction is underway for our new kitchen area. Track the transformation as we post updates here throughout the project! If you look in the gym you'll quickly notice a wall that was constructed to section off the construction area. Here's a peek behind the doors into the changes taking place....
Kitchen Project Update: Feb. 24
Construction is underway for our new kitchen area. Track the transformation as we post updates here throughout the project! If you look in the gym you'll quickly notice a wall that was constructed to section off the construction area. Here's a peek behind the doors into the changes taking place....
Kitchen Project Update: Feb. 16
Construction is underway for our new kitchen area. Track the transformation as we post updates here throughout the project! If you look in the gym you'll quickly notice a wall that was constructed to section off the construction area. Here's a peek behind the doors into the changes taking place:...
Committed Community
In the Christian life, we need each other. One of God's intended pathways to spiritual growth is the family of believers serving and supporting one another. On Sunday we looked at some of the more informal ways we can do this. In that sermon I referenced our True Community series and encouraged you to listed to this sermon on Committed Community. In it I covered more of the formal or programmatic ways that this happens in the life of the church. And at the end my good friend Wes Penner shares his experience of serving at First Free. ...
Word and Prayer Resources
We’re two weeks into our “Means of Grace” series. The means of grace are simply the ways God has given us to grow in grace, as Peter said (2 Peter 3:18), or to become more like Jesus (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18). I’m encouraged by how many of you have given me feedback, shared your stories with me, and asked questions about application. You wouldn’t believe how much more feedback I get on topical sermons than expository ones. Who knew!? For as much as I talk about expository preaching, it must be God’s sense of humor. So in answer to some of your questions over the last two weeks, and as promised, here’s a list of resources and suggestions on how to give yourselves more fully to the Word and prayer so that you can grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ....
Advent Week 4: LOVE
There is not a more appropriate focus for the week of Christmas than love. God IS love! It is part of his perfect character and is seen in all his deeds. J I Packer states, “To know God’s love is indeed heaven on earth.” He further defines God’s love as an “exercise of his goodness towards sinners… he has given his Son to be their Savior.” Christ’s coming is the ultimate expression of God’s love for the world. How do we respond to such amazing, humbling love? In lives of worship and obedience, joyfully sharing his love with the dying world around us. God IS love....
Advent Week 3: JOY
Advent is a season of waiting. For children each day’s (slow!) passing means Christmas is one day closer. Presents under the tree, baking cookies, and other special Christmas traditions all add to the expectant waiting for the big day. It is hard to wait patiently! As God’s people waited for Jesus, they endured much suffering. The joyful hope of the promised Messiah sustained them. And what joy welcomed baby Jesus! The angels announced to the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great JOY…”. When the wise men saw the star that led them to Jesus, ”they rejoiced exceedingly with great JOY”! John the Baptist, declared that the coming of Jesus caused his “JOY to be complete.”...
Advent Week 2: PEACE
From the end of the Old Testament until the grand announcement of Christ’s birth that begins the New Testament, God was silent. For hundreds of years God’s people did not hear from him. No prophecy. No comfort or guidance. Generations of waiting, hoping, remembering, and retelling God’s mighty deeds. Some remembered the promise of God to send a deliverer. Some celebrated Passover and prayed for the lamb who would take away the sins of the world. There was no peace for God’s people. The nations around them grew strong and their kings ruled cruelly over God’s people. How long, oh Lord? It is hard to wait! Waiting is discouraging and difficult. It is easy to think you’ve been forgotten...
Advent Week 1: HOPE
Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, are days of great preparation. We prepare lists of gifts to purchase, groceries to buy, and parties to attend. There are lists of chores to be done from cleaning and decorating the house and yard to mailing Christmas cards and wrapping gifts. Advent...
Gala in the Garden: Discovering God
We expected nothing less. As usual, it was a beautiful evening at Botanica as ladies and girls gathered for the Gala in the Garden on June 28. Probably the most beautiful aspect of our time together, however, was how Debbie Shoberg told her story of...
Purposeful Partnership: The Wichita Bible Translation Project
We are so excited about a new missions partnership at First Free! As you know, we want to see the gospel go wide to all peoples. We have a strategic emphasis in missions on getting the gospel to unreached people groups, meaning ethnolinguistic people groups without a viable, indigenous witness for Christ. Or more simply, a group that speaks the same language, without anyone from that group who can tell them about Christ....
Judges: A Visual Overview
As we head into our series in the book of Judges, I found this video to be a great summary of the book and where we are headed! I hope you find it helpful in giving you a "map" of the book and understanding why we are studying this dark period in Israel's history. ...
The Best Day of the Week
Nick Kennicott, in his blog post titled, The Best Day of the Week...for Your Kids, states, “...if we are to do [the Sabbath] rightly and call the Sabbath a delight (Isaiah 48:13) we need to think about how we can cultivate that delight instead of dread in our children’s (and our own) hearts on the Lord’s Day.”...
Seven Ideas for Helping Kids Grow Spiritually in 2017
The new year has begun and will pass by at an astonishing rate. Isn’t that what we say at the end of each year, ‘It went so fast!’ Time with your children at home is short. Determine to make the most of each year by making spiritual goals as a family. Here are a few ideas to get you going!...
Global Opportunities in Wichita!
Last Sunday, I walked into the gym here at First Free after church. What a beautiful sight! It was the annual Great Giveaway organized by Randell Harms. There were about 100 international students and a few Americans, sitting around tables eating together. Along the outer walls of the gym were stacks of household goods for these students to take to their apartments for free. A couple hours later, some First Free volunteers would load up their trucks with mattresses, kitchen utensils, and all sorts of other things, to drive students back to their apartments near campus....
Learn More About the EFCA
At the last Members Meeting, following EFCA President Kevin Komplein’s comments, some of you asked about ways to stay informed about our denomination, the Evangelical Free Church of America. There are many great resources on their website that you can subscribe to and keep up-to-date on what’s happening in the denomination and how God is working through the EFCA. Here are some links to get you started.......
Four Ways to Love the Nations
Sometimes “the nations” seem so far away from us. We have so much going on in our lives right here in Kansas, that to engage our hearts with what’s going on overseas can almost seem overwhelming. And yet, God calls the church to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Christians do need to care about what God is doing to accomplish his mission among “every tribe, nation, and people.” So how do we grow in our heart for the nations? Here are a few ideas! ...
Getting to Know God's Love
Do you want to be marked by love? God is love, and as I said in my sermon on Sunday, to be people who are marked by love we must first come to know God’s love. So let’s resolve to get to know God’s love more. It’s a goal we can always embrace because God’s love actually surpasses knowledge (Eph 3:19)....
Making the Most of Time with Your Kids in 2016!
The new year has begun and will pass by at an astonishing rate. Isn’t that what we say at the end of each year, "It went so fast!" Time with you children at home is short. Determine to make the most of each year by making spiritual goals as a family. Here are a few ideas to get you going!...
A Realistic Love
Pastor Curt did a wonderful job on Sunday of reminding us from Psalm 139 that God knows us. He knows everything about us. He even knows the “grievous ways in me” (Ps. 139:23). And yet, in light of that full knowledge, he still loves us. This humbling truth reminded me of one of my favorite sections in J.I. Packer’s Knowing God....
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
I’d been there earlier in the day, but I’ll never forget the very first time I arrived at night to the Lott’s barn for An Old-Fashioned Christmas. It was wondrous! The smoking fire pots led the way and the huge stone barn appeared as I rounded the corner. It was adorned with beautiful Christmas lights and the lights inside seemed to call to me, “Come, celebrate! Jesus is here.”...
Seven Principles for Fighting Sin
Fighting sin can sometimes feel like a losing battle. There are some sins that seem like you’ll never shake. It’s true we’ll never be completely rid of this foe till Christ returns. Nevertheless, God has given us means to fight sin. These principles have been tremendously helpful to me and I share them here with you....
God at Work in Zambia 2015
As we report back to you we want to thank you once again for being a crucial part of our time at Village of Hope in Zambia. Praise God for your faithfulness. We are excited to fill you in on how he is working. Our team of nine kept busy! Land clearing, vehicle repair, teacher education, curriculum preparation, physicals on around 500 children, planning for a piggery, plans for expanding the secondary school and building relationships were the tasks we set to gladly. Several of us even got to teach in some of the vocational classes. The opportunity to see what the current needs are and to be able to come back and share with you is such a privilege. ...
Untainted Love
The Gala in the Garden was a beautiful event – beautiful gardens, beautiful tables, beautiful food, beautiful music, beautiful smiles. It was a warm event – upper 90s outside, warmer than usual inside, and warm fellowship as ladies and girls enjoyed one another’s company. However, the absolute highlight of the evening was Michelle Romig’s authentic testimony to the incredible, untainted love of the God of the universe....
Join Us for Missions Weekend, June 27-28
Missions Weekend is coming up on June 27-28! Our special guests this year include Sam & Sharon Mall. Sam & Sharon have been First Free missions partners with ReachGlobal in India since 1995. Sam was born and raised in India and met Sharon in the States while working with international students. After getting married in 1973, they’ve been involved in numerous ministries in India, including starting a church planting institute and anti-trafficking initiatives. We hope you'll join us for the following events during Missions Weekend....
Parking Lot Improvement Project - Parking and Building Access
Update: Work on our parking lot improvement project is scheduled to begin the first week in June! We’ll do our best to help you navigate the parking lot and building access during the project. We expect the actual improvements to take 3-5 days and then the new concrete will need an additional 7-10 days to cure....
Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem
Have you been busy lately? Do you have too many agenda items to juggle? Is the important getting lost in the midst of the urgent? I might have a simple solution to your problem… but, prepare yourself, it may feel counter-intuitive. My solution? Stop what you’re doing and read the book Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung....
Practicing Obedience
Over the past year, the Tuesday Connection Women’s Bible Studies have been studying the book of Exodus. As we’ve concluded this spring with the second half, women had a few questions as they encountered texts on the law, the Tabernacle, and other topics. Here, Pastor Jeremy answers one woman’s question as she contemplated what obedience to the law looked like then, and what it might look like now. She asks, “How do we practice ‘obedience’ in our daily lives today?”...
Worship, Serve, Learn: Navigating the Options
Have you ever noticed we have a lot going on here on Sunday mornings? There are opportunities to worship, to serve, and to learn. And all are important in the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ who glorify God as the grace of the gospel grows deep in God’s people and goes wide to all peoples. A person doesn’t have time to do it all, so how do you decide? How should you spend your time on a Sunday morning? Let me offer a few suggestions....
How to Change a Life - 52 Club
You might see a sign about or hear someone talk about the 52 Club and if you’re anything like me you might think, “What in the world is the 52 Club?” Well, the 52 Club is a fundraiser that you can be a part of to help students go to life-changing camps and retreats. Why join? What's the impact?...
But What About… Is It Ever Ok to Divorce?
You’d be hard-pressed to find a family who hasn’t been affected by divorce in some way, whether that’s divorce of parents, a child, an extended family member, or a family friend. Because it’s such a relevant topic it’s important that we understand what the Bible teaches about it....
A Guide to Family Worship
I’ve found that family worship is something that just doesn’t happen without a good plan. We need to set aside dedicated time in our homes to grow in grace. This time can look as different as the families are that do it, but I think Donald Whitney’s suggestions are doable and adaptable for most families. He says that at a minimum family worship should include instruction in the Word, prayer, and, ideally, singing. We’ve created this guide to help equip you in leading your family in worship in these three areas....
Balanced Planning in the New Year
As we approach the New Year many people begin to make plans and set goals for 2015. Some set financial goals or weight loss goals. Others make travel plans and decide on Bible reading plans. I could go on, but you get the picture. Planning is a good thing (cf. Prov. 21:5). I think it’s a part of what it means to be created in the image of God. After all God has a plan for all of history which culminates in the coming of Christ (cf. Eph. 1:10). But we live in a fallen world. And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we go about planning in the wrong way from time to time....
December/January Newsletter
Don't miss our December/January newsletter. Here's a preview of what's inside!...
Caroling with the Choir - Canceled
Caroling with the Choir has been canceled due to weather conditions....
Straight Talk on Giving
This is the last of a series of articles on the topic of giving. We have dealt with some basic principles of giving, some obstacles to giving, and some wrong ways to give. (You can read the previous articles here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.) Now I wish to share some positive principles of giving by focusing primarily on 2 Corinthians 9....
First Free November Newsletter
Don't miss our November newsletter! Here's a peek inside:...
Straight Talk on When Not to Give
Giving is not always godly. It is not always generous or selfless. Sometimes it can be manipulative, hypocritical, even greedy. The Bible is not unequivocally positive in its attitude toward giving. As a matter of fact, it often warns us about the dangers of giving if we fail to do it God’s way....
First Free October Newsletter
Don't miss our October newsletter! Here's a peek inside:...
Straight Talk on How You Spend Your Money
Why don’t more Christians give according to biblical standards? I’m convinced it’s not because they are selfish or materialistic or lack a spirit of generosity. It’s because they can’t afford it. And why can’t they afford it? Sometimes it’s because their spending habits and debt are out of control....
How to Do One-to-One Discipleship
I love disciple-making and get excited whenever those around me express interest in learning how to better be disciples that make disciples. I tend to bring a few suppositions to the table, but I’ll do my best to share them upfront. Here they are:...
Why Bible Study?
Over 100 First Free women will be gathering on Tuesday mornings and evenings this fall. Why? They’re going to the age-old, tried and true, classic Bible study--we call it Tuesday Connection. For decades, for generations, for hundreds of years, God’s people have gathered in one way or another to engage his Word together. So, why are we gathering around the Word like this? Studying, doing homework, praying through it, talking about it together? Isn’t this a little...“old-fashioned”? I’m sure we could think of several reasons, but there are three we want to focus on this fall. ...
First Free September Newsletter
Don't miss our September newsletter! Here's a peek inside:...
Your Guide to First Free This Fall
Summer is quickly passing, schools are starting, and it’s almost time to adjust to the new schedules of fall. Don't miss our August newsletter! As we get ready to launch fall programming, here’s the information you’ll need to be ready. Whether you’ve called First Free “home” for years or are new to the church, we hope you’ll take a look and see how you can get connected!...
4 Resources to Help You Know How God Designed You
If work is the thing that most of us spend most of our time doing, what kind of work should we do? Is the work you’re currently doing the work you ought to be doing? I suspect many of you ask this question from time to time. In Sunday’s sermon, “Work As Vocation,” I gave four questions* to help you evaluate your work. I’d encourage you to listen to the sermon if you missed it and want to hear more about these questions. But to help you answer the first question, I’ve put together a list of helpful books and resources...
Straight Talk on Money Matters, Part 1
...First Free has had a remarkable history of faithful and generous givers over the past 64 years of our existence. We have never conducted an annual stewardship drive as many churches do; we haven’t had to. Instead we have generally addressed the topic of giving only when it came up in the course of our regular expository preaching. However, several factors have converged to present some new challenges today......
You ARE Called to Missions
God’s global plan is very clear in Scripture. From God blessing Abraham to bless “all the families of the earth” in Genesis 12 to people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” worshipping the Lord in Revelation 7:9, we see God working to save a remnant from every people group on earth. The Great Commission of Matthew 28 is Jesus’ clear calling for believers to participate in God’s plan. This commission wasn’t just for the disciples. How do I know? There are two clues....
The Gift of Koinonia
...I’m also thankful for a generous church who gives of their time, treasure, and talents to build up the body of Christ. My reflections on my ability to take a study leave has reminded me of a sermon I preached on the nature of true fellowship (Greek: koinonia). I’d like to share three aspects of biblical koinonia and then show how they relate to where we’re at as a church right now....
Gospel-Centered Accountability
In my sermon last Sunday (June 15), I talked about the importance of gospel-centered accountability (GCA). Here’s a little more about what I mean and what it looks like practically. I’ll give you two ingredients, the “who, when, where, and what,” and then provide some simple questions to get you started. If you missed the sermon, I’d encourage you to listen to it for an answer to the question, “Why GCA?”...
Women's Ministries Summer Reading Picks
Guess what, ladies?! Our church library has some brand new books lined up just for you. Following Pastor Matt’s blog series on reading with discernment, these new books will be a great way to engage what you’ve learned. Check out some new picks by current female authors below! These books are all labeled as a "Women's Ministries Pick" and were added to the library this week....
Summer Sundays 2014
Summertime is here. At First Free that means a change of pace and a chance to give our Children’s and Student Ministries volunteers a break. Here are the specifics of what that will look like this year...
What's Their Gospel Message?
Knowing the true gospel is of central importance to reading spiritual books with discernment. Every spiritual book has a gospel, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right gospel. For example, the health and wealth movement preaches a gospel which is certainly false. And there are numerous other forms of gospels that you’ll find in spiritual books that are anything but biblical. They may use biblical words but that doesn’t mean they’re preaching what the Bible is teaching. How can you tell the true gospel from its false counterparts?...
Are My Ears Itching?
What do itching ears have to do with reading spiritual books with discernment? A lot actually. Not physically itching ears, of course, but spiritually itching ears. The apostle Paul says, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths†(2 Tim. 4:3-4). Whether its end times predictions or books promising heaven-like experiences on earth (or about their experiences in heaven; or hell!), the problem with many spiritual books today is that they are written more towards people with itching ears than to fill people with sound doctrine....
How Are They Using Their Bible?
Remember the TV show M*A*S*H? A classic scene from that show is when Father Mulcahy, the chaplain of the 4077th army surgical hospital, accidentally gets drunk when he hears that his Cardinal is coming to hear him preach. He’s so nervous he’s encouraged to take a shot of whiskey to cool his nerves. He then enters the tent, approaches the pulpit, and begins to preach (in inebriated fashion) from Leviticus 10:9, “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die...” The scene is certainly comical. But there’s a form of “inebriating preaching” that is anything but funny....
What Do They Mean When They Say _________?
I recently attended a funeral service where the person giving the eulogy began reading from the Bible. He made mention to the plan of salvation and so forth. Then---to the great shock of everyone---he pulled out a second book. ...
How to Read with Discernment: 5 Reasons
”Watch out for wooden nickels.” Ever heard that phrase? That’s something my grandpa used to say to me. Now, why would he say that? He wanted to impart some wisdom. There are many tricksters in the world and you and I are far more prone to deception than any of us are willing to admit....
What Aren't They Saying?
Have you ever been cornered by a salesman that was trying to make you an offer you couldn’t refuse? The deal sounds good, but in the back of your mind you know there’s a catch. There’s something he’s not telling you. The same could be true of commercials and internet advertising. The problem is not in what they’re saying, but in what they’re NOT saying....
God at Work in Uganda
God is doing a great work in the lives of orphans in Uganda and in the life of our church as well. Robin Willford, a First Free member, was a part of our recent March trip to Uganda with the Global Orphan Project. You will see what God is doing through her answers below. I hope you will consider how you can be more of a part of missions at First Free, whether it be going, sending, praying, welcoming, or training!...
God At Work in NYC
Our college missions team to New York City had an amazing time. God worked in and through them in some powerful ways. By partnering with Urban Nations to work with immigrants and refugees from over 25 countries, our team made a real impact on a short 8-day trip. Below you’ll see what Kate Dorsey had to say about her experience in New York City, and what it means for her going forward. Enjoy! ...
The Easter 1K Project
Easter Sunday is right around the corner---April 20th this year. As an effort to share the good news with more people, I’ve initiated the Easter 1K Project for First Free! The Easter 1K Project is loosely based on Bible Mission International’s “1:10 Project”...
Join the 52 Club!
Student Ministries trips, retreats, and conferences make a difference in the lives of students. This is a message we hear over and over from students who have had the opportunity to participate in a trip. Because we know trips can change lives, we want to provide scholarships and financial assistance for those who need it so they can attend these life-changing events. ...
How Are You Connected?
The elders of our church have taken an intentional role in “knowing†the flock. As our staff team has followed suit, we have realized that we are unaware of how a number of you are relationally connected. Furthermore, we have not done as good of a job as we should have done in knowing all the ministries you currently serve in as well as any outside ministries in which you participate....
Pray With Us (Friday)
Will you pray with us? The women of First Free are headed off to "retreat" and learn to "press on" together March 7-8! We desperately want this upcoming weekend to be a genuine work of God. Would you commit to pray for our time together? Check back as we will be posting a request each day leading up to the retreat. ...
Marinating In the Gospel
In my sermon on Sunday, I said one of the ways we are to let the gospel abide in you (1 Jn. 2:24) is by “marinating in the gospel.†To remain in the gospel, we need regular exposure to the gospel. In my sermon I listed a number of ways we can have regular exposure to the gospel....
Conversation Starters
Sometimes the hardest part of evangelism is just getting the conversation started. It can be awkward to ask that first question! Sometimes it feels too personal, or sometimes we are afraid of what might happen. Well here’s some ideas of how to start a gospel-centered conversation, either with a friend or a stranger. ...
Pressing On! 2014 Women’s Retreat
Coming together as a body of women doesn’t happen every day. I don’t know about you, but I long for those lingering moments when I am with my sisters in Christ. Times when I can pray with them, talk with them, read God’s Word with them, hear God’s Word with them, and sing His praises with them. There’s just something about it. Knowing the loveliness of sisterhood in Christ is...unexplainable....
Have a Very "Mary" Christmas
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.†(Luke 10:41-42) Black Friday marked the beginning of the Christmas season for many. And during this season the world cries out, “Have a very Martha Christmas; be busy and stressed!â€...
Harrased, Helpless, and Hassled?
As the holidays approach, I am remembering how "harassed" and "helpless" I tend to feel during this time of year. With all the shopping, errands, cooking, baking, thinking, planning, making, creating, wrapping, and searching, my insides will churn, my heart will feel tight, and, at 31, I’m probably two shakes away from keeling over in total exhaustion when I get in holiday mode!...
Memorization: An Interview with Michal Rector
Michal Rector is a young mom who attends Tuesday Connection Bible Study. Here she shares how memorizing God’s Word has impacted her life this semester. What have you been memorizing this semester? The book of Philippians. So far I have chapters 1-3 memorized and I am currently working on chapter 4. What have been motivations for you to begin and continue this endeavor (practical motivations, spiritual, heart needs, struggles, etc)?...
Mothers, Show Them What To Pray
In his sermon this past Sunday, Pastor Josh mentioned the importance of teaching our children to pray. This can be hard for me, though God grows my passion for prayer more and more. With my own daughter, I often tend to ask her to pray and when she demonstrates insecurity about it, I confess I often brush her insecurity aside and say, “Just talk to him! About anything!†I easily forget how I have been in the same place, and have had to learn--and still have more yet to learn--to pray and dialogue with the Lord....
Recommended Resources for Family Worship
Parents, in my sermon last Sunday I mentioned a number of resources for using in family worship. I have benefited from these resources and would recommend that you start here if you’d like help with this important time with your family....
Why Should I Attend a Members Meeting?
The answer to this question is largely bound up in our understanding of authority. In the EFCA, we are “Congregationalists.†What does that mean? That means that we believe the congregation is the highest governing authority under Christ for the local church. The congregation--not a bishop, not a group of elders, not a pastor--is the highest court of appeals in matters of doctrine, discipline, disputes, distributing resources, and determining who the leaders and members are in the church. So the reason we attend members meetings, in the first instance, is theological, not merely practical....
Memorization: Picturing the Word
Memorizing God’s Word is a discipline that can easily become a source of pride and an act of duty. To fight this tendency, memorization must be accompanied by meditation. One way this can practically play out is listed in the Women’s Ministry memorization booklets on Philippians....
Perspectives Coming to First Free
It was 2003. I was 19, and God had given me a huge heart for the lost and the poor. I knew I was interested in missions, but didn’t know why and didn’t know what to do about it....
Book Review: The Next Story
Earlier this year, a story ran about a father who put his family on the “1986 Technology Plan.” He, his wife and two small children only use technology if they could have acquired it in 1986. So, they have a telephone, cassette tapes, videos and a television, but no cell phones, DVDs, cable TV, or internet-capable computer. His motivations were simply to “reunite the family,” certainly a worthy goal. But his actions also highlight many people’s confusion with how to function in a technology-obsessed culture in the here and now. Even those who see technology’s negative effects on themselves and their families and think this man’s project noble would probably have a hard time agreeing it’s really practically possible. So how should we respond to technology and its increasing negative effects?...
Memorization: Laying Down Our [In]Security
I glanced over as slyly, as secretly, and as nonchalantly as I could to the woman sitting next to me. She had an array of Bible study tools out before her. Propped side by side upon the “dash†of the train window was her Bible, her reading book, her Bible study book, her snack, her drink…she was ready....
Memorization: Laying Down Our Rebel Hearts
“Great is the Lord, and bmmmbsflk mumble jumble...” I heard my daughter say, as we were working on her memory verse for Awana. “Sweetie, I can’t hear you. You need to speak up and speak clearly.” My insides were churning with rising anger while I attempted to keep the tone of my voice patient and kind. I had stated this verse to her dozens of times. I knew she knew it; I could hear her mumbling it, for goodness sake! ...
Never the Same - An Introduction to Steve Richardson
The Sawi were headhunters and cannibals when a young couple named Don and Carol Richardson arrived in their village carrying their seven-month-old boy Steve--and a message that would change the tribe forever. The year was 1962, and Steve--and later, three more children--spent their youth among the Sawi, learning the language and embracing the culture in ways that would shape the rest of their lives....
There Have Been Bad/Good Days Before, Part 2
In the first part of this post, I discussed one extreme response Christians can have to the cultural forgetfulness we see around us: cluelessly submit without examining the implications of how we think and remember. Our corrective to this is to be active rememberers of God’s stories, how he has worked in the lives of men in history....
The Power of a Simple Question
A simple question can change everything. Last week, five guys from my small group got together for a 6:30 breakfast. We arrived downtown before the sun was up, ready to enjoy great fellowship over some Eggs Benedict. None of us were expecting an evangelism opportunity....
There Have Been Bad/Good Days Before, Part 1
In a previous post, I discussed the importance of remembering and retelling God’s stories. Explicitly this includes the stories of the Bible and the Story of the Bible, the story that points to and is Jesus. Also explicitly such storytelling includes the “smaller” ways God works in individuals’ lives like the stories Lori Day told at the Gala. But I would like to add a third kind of storytelling to this...
An Interview on Memorization
First Free Women are gearing up to hide God’s Word in their hearts this fall. Here’s an interview with Lindsey Claassen, whose desire to memorize the Word of God is a testimony of God’s faithfulness and goodness to those who are called by his name....
A Plea to Our God
Here is one woman’s response to last week’s sermon on Ephesians 1:15-23. May it encourage you in your own response: Father of Glory, Author and Sustainer of Life, It is you who gives me my life, my breath, my being; ...
Answered Prayer in the Czech Republic
This year was First Free’s tenth camp partnering with the Litomerice church. We were amazed and thankful for how God used this year’s team of five: Mark, Amy, Jim, Sonya and Maureen. It was a smaller number than in previous years, but God provided just what was needed....
Finding JOY in Memorizing the Word
Already anticipating the next women's retreat? Start gearing up for it now, and join First Free Women this fall as we find JOY in memorizing God's Word together! Preparing your hearts and minds now will make you ready to receive powerful truths from the book of Philippians later at the March 7-8, 2014, Women's Retreat. ...
Missions Sunday Preview - 2013
Missions Sunday is coming up on October 13! Our Sunday morning services will have a missions focus, and Sunday evening we will host our 2nd annual “Trip Around the World.†Let me tell you more about both!...
We Are to Be the "Rememberers"
As a creative writing teacher, I think a lot about stories, mostly how to help my students tell them better. But as my preschooler gets older and his attention span for more developed plots gets longer, I also think about what stories to tell him. This idea really hit home for me as I listened to Lori Day speak at the Gala this year....
Chances to See
God showed me exciting things over a ten day trip to Moldova in Eastern Europe. Our team of twelve partnered with a small rural church to fit eyeglasses and organize a VBS program. The people of rural Moldova were so thankful for whatever help our team provided. One grandmotherly woman with a purple scarf tied on her head and a long dress stands out....
Stuck in the Mud
I will venture to say that many of us do not always feel “eager” to become like Christ. We confess our sin and want to be rid of it, but often resist the godly qualities that are supposed to replace those sins. We don’t want to do the work involved. We cling to sin we’ve always believed to be part of our personality--" fear, apathy, temper, worry. We know how to make a pretense of growth with our outward acts and words; all the while, what continues to grow down in our very deepest places, is something quite different. And our contentment with these things keeps us stuck, like feet in mud....
Natives of Heaven
I never want to be "just like" everybody else. There’s a little piece deep down inside of me that tends to enjoy going against the grain at times (sometimes for the good...sometimes for the bad, I’ll shamefully confess!). You would think, as a believer living in this fallen world, that this “not wanting to be like everybody else” desire in me would help when it comes to being “salt and light” in a dark world that thinks and acts so very differently than me most of the time....
New First Free Missionaries
First Free is excited to be sending several new missionaries this year. Today we will introduce you to three who will be serving as teachers in overseas schools. Take a look at your new missionaries!...
Summer Reading List
Summer’s here! That means lots of spontaneous activity, rather than the regular weekly routines we settle into during the fall and winter months. With all the “free” time we have to “do as we please” during the summer, there is often room for a few new books to add to our reading lists. Here are several “top picks” to add to your summer reading list from the staff. Relax, find your favorite chair in the sun, and enjoy!!...
Missions at First Free
What is missions? There are thousands of definitions and thousands of different ways that churches approach missions. At First Free, we participate in many kinds of missions, from church planting in the toughest places on earth to local ministries to parachurch ministries in Wichita reaching specific pockets of people. We do, however, have some very clear priorities....
Welcome!
Welcome to our new space! We hope you find it useful and easy to navigate. Here's a sampling of some of the new features:...
Your Guide to First Free This Fall
Summer is quickly passing, schools are starting, and it’s almost time to adjust to the new schedules of fall. Don't miss our August newsletter! As we get ready to launch fall programming, here’s the information you’ll need to be ready. Whether you’ve called First Free “home” for years or are new to the church, we hope you’ll take a look and see how you can ge...
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